Home > ABC Knocks 'Weeping' Boehner as 'Harshly Partisan,' Gushed Over Pelosi as 'Galvanized Steel With a Smile'

ABC Knocks 'Weeping' Boehner as 'Harshly Partisan,' Gushed Over Pelosi as 'Galvanized Steel With a Smile'

By

Scott Whitlock

January 4, 2011 - 12:50pm

Good
Morning America's Jon Karl on Tuesday derided the incoming Republican
Speaker of the House as "harshly partisan." The ABC correspondent joked
that John Boehner can look "like the weeper of the House." In contrast,
then-GMA co-host Diane Sawyer in 2007 lauded Speaker Nancy Pelosi's
ascension, praising, "But her fellow politicians say she's galvanized steel with a smile."

While Karl dismissed Boehner as a "weeper," Sawyer, on January 19, 2007[1], rhapsodized over Pelosi as a sweeper, glowingly recounting how the first female Speaker picked up garbage[2]:
"We're walking along with the camera, [Pelosi] looks at the carpet. It
has lint on it, little scraps of paper. She can't stand it. She gets
down and cleans the carpet so we could walk."

Sawyer described this fairly mundane act as something "no Speaker of
the House has ever done in the entire history of the United States of
America."

GMA, which hit Boehner as "harshly partisan," didn't use that phrase with the highly partisanPelosi. The word came up once in January of 2007, but as a compliment.

On January 5 of that year, reporter Claire Shipman hyped, "You could
actually feel the history of the moment, especially in an era of such
partisan politics, when Nancy Pelosi received a standing ovation not
just from the Democrats, but from Republicans too. She has barely
started her job but her election is already having an impact on a lot of
Americans."

A transcript of the January 4 segment, which aired at 7:04am EST, follows:

GEORGE
STEPHANOPOULOS: We're going to turn now to Capitol Hill. The new GOP
majority formally takes control of the House of Representatives tomorrow
and Republicans are painting a big target on one of President Obama's
biggest and most controversial accomplishments. Jon Karl has that story.
And, Jon, the Republicans say they're keeping their number one campaign
promise.

JON KARL: That's right. They've already unveiled their first major
piece of legislation, George. And here it is. Short and to the point.
This would repeal the entire health care reform law, replace it with
nothing and set the stage for the first battle of the new Congress. The
vote is a clear sign of the new Republican Congress' determination to
roll back the Obama agenda. An effort led by the man soon to become a
household name, John Boehner.

JOHN BOEHNER: Nancy Pelosi.

KARL: Just four years ago, he handed the Speaker's gavel to Nancy Pelosi. He'll get it back tomorrow. Boehner is a man with many sides. He can be harshly partisan.

JOHN BOEHNER: Hell no you can't!

KARL: And, at times, looks like the weeper of the House.

BOEHNER: I spent my whole life, chasing the American dream.

KARL:
He has worked with Democrats, joining Ted Kennedy, for example, in
crafting the No Child Left Behind education bill. Boehner says he will
use his first speech as Speaker of the House to talk about making tough
choices to deal with the $14 trillion debt. And unlike the vast
majority of his congressional colleagues, he says he has never once put
an earmark in a bill for a pet project. Keeping a close eye on
Boehner, a new crop of Republicans, many of them new to politics, who
may want even deeper cuts to spending. People like Bobby Schilling, who,
until yesterday, ran a pizzaria in Moline, Illinois.

REP-ELECT BOBBY SCHILLING (R-IL): We're here to fight. We need to go to
get this thing back on track where it needs to be so that our kids and
grand kids have the same opportunities that were afforded to us.

KARL: There will be 85 of those new freshman Republicans sworn in
tomorrow. Now, George, every, single one of them supported Boehner for
Speaker of the House. But this group has a willingness to challenge
their leadership when they disagree. Robin.

- Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here[3] to follow him on Twitter.

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.